MSU Green Roof Initiative: A report of recommendations Complete Survey Results

Transcription

1 MSU Green Roof Initiative: A report of recommendations Complete Survey Results Melanie Fox-Chen, Intern Office of Sustainability, McMaster University For course credit awarded by: Science 3EP3 Applied Science Placement Academic Supervisor: Dr. Maureen Padden November 2012

2 Abstract During the 2012 MSU Presidential Election, Siobhan Stewart, MSU President, included the MSU Green Roof Initiative as one of her platform points. Melanie Fox-Chen, Student Intern working with the Office of Sustainability, has assisted Siobhan by obtaining feedback from the McMaster community on the MSU Green Roof Initiative. Community consultation was facilitated through an online survey that was posted July 11, Melanie obtained feedback from participants on various aspects such as use of space, food production, plant preferences, seating options and community involvement. Results from 605 participants were collected on September 28, Results from the survey were used towards developing this report of recommendations, for use towards the design of the MSU Green Space to provide alignment with the preferences and values put forth by members of the McMaster community. Key findings from the survey show that 65.6 % of participants would use the green roof for relaxing and would appreciate a calm, soothing environment. Of the respondents, 63.8 % would like plants native to Southern Ontario to be incorporated into the green roof and 76.2 % of participants would like edible plants to be grown on the roof. When asked for their preference related to smoking in the space, 92.0% of participants would like this area to be non-smoking. Data also indicates that shade and multiple person seating options are important. Many survey participants would be interested to volunteer for the MSU Green Roof Initiative. All related documents encompassing Melanie s work towards the MSU Green Roof Initiative can be found on the Office of Sustainability website. Introduction Green space within an urban landscape can evoke a positive influence on community members living in the area. An urban green space creates a sense of community and promotes relationships among neighbors. A study conducted by Maas, van Dillen, Verheij, and Groenewegen (2009) found that a positive correlation exists between the amount of green space in a participant s environment and the number of social interactions they have. Siobhan Stewart, MSU President, showed her support of urban green spaces by including the MSU Green Roof Initiative as a platform point during her candidacy in the 2012 MSU Presidential Election. Melanie Fox-Chen, Student Intern working with the Office of Sustainability, has advanced the initiative by obtaining feedback from the McMaster community on their vision for the MSU Green Roof Initiative. Methods Research on the best practices of urban green space was conducted and five key areas were identified, which include food production, plants, seating, irrigation and rainwater collection, as well as community involvement and education. Examples of Canadian

3 institutions that incorporate these practices into their urban green space were compiled and presented in a written report, Five Best Practices on Urban Green Space. A survey was then created based on the key areas of urban green space. A question for each best practice was constructed and included in the survey. Irrigation and rainwater were not included in the survey as it would be difficult to seek community feedback on these topics. Additional questions that would determine demographic information of participants were created to provide supplementary information for the MSU. Comment boxes were included for each question to obtain further thoughts from participants. The Five Best Practices on Urban Green Space report was available online to accompany the survey. It was recommended that survey respondents read the document prior to survey completion in order to become informed of potential opportunities to consider. The survey was posted on July 11, 2012 on the Green Space page of the Office of Sustainability website and on the MSU website. To further promote the survey, an article was prepared by Melanie for the McMaster Daily News and subsequently released to the McMaster community via the online weekly update. Preliminary results were collected on July 27, 2012, at which time the survey had received feedback from 480 respondents. Percentage of respondents and average rankings were calculated in order to analyze data and determine preferences of participants. This information was reported on in the MSU Green Roof Initiative: A report of recommendations. The survey was made available until September 28, 2012, when final results were collected. In total, the survey received feedback from 605 respondents. Again, the percentage of respondents and average rankings were calculated in order to analyze data and determine preferences of participants. Results Preliminary results are included in Appendix A. Results entailing all survey responses are as follows. No major changes were observed between the preliminary and complete data. Participant demographics data remained similar, with students encompassing the majority of survey participants in both preliminary and complete data. Use of space preference was also similar between preliminary and complete data, as relaxing remained the most popular choice, followed by studying or reading. The complete data reinforced that most respondents would like that food grown on the MSU Green Roof be donated to local charities. Native plants continue to be the most popular choice in terms of plant features, while seating with shade stays ranked as most important for seating options. Interestingly, the complete data indicates that more individuals are interested in assembling the MSU Green Roof and less are interested in organizing events for the space than in the preliminary data.

4 Participant Demographics As shown in Figure 1 below, the majority of survey respondents were students (82.4%), followed by staff (15.3%), faculty (2.5%) and other (3.7%), such as McMaster alumni. Figure 1. Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 1: Please choose the option that best describes you. Use of Space Relaxing and studying/reading were the most popular activities participants felt they would engage in while using the green roof space. As shown in Figure 2, 65.6% of participants indicated they would use the space for relaxing and 57.8% of participants would also use the green roof for studying or reading. In addition, 50.4 % of participants chose the socializing option and 46.9% of participants would use the green roof for eating their meals. Finally, 6.8% of participants would use the space for other purposes. Comments left by participants included incorporating the green roof into campus tours and using the space to host special events as well as meetings.

5 Figure 2. Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 2: What would you most likely use the MSU Green Roof for? Food Production When participants were asked if edible plants should be included in the MSU Green Roof, 76.2% said yes. Of all survey respondents, 67.6% of participants would like the edible plants grown on the roof to be donated to local charities or food banks. Incorporation into meals sold on campus was also a popular choice, with 48.7 % of participants choosing this option. Results also indicated that 31.2 % of participants would like edible plants to be free for picking and 11.2 % of participants would like edible plants to be used for other purposes (Figure 3). Participants suggested Mac Bread Bin and Mac Farmstand as potential groups to donate to. Figure 3. Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 3: If the MSU Green Roof were to grow fruits vegetables and/or herbs, what

6 would you like the produce to be used for? Plants When asking survey respondents to choose what plant features they would like to see incorporated into the MSU Green Space, plants native to Southern Ontario was the most popular choice at 63.8%. Figure 4 below shows that biodiversity, aesthetics and plants that belong to endangered ecosystems (57%, 49.6% and 46.8% respectively) were also of high importance. Feedback was provided by 6.6% of respondents, which included incorporating perennials due to their low maintenance requirement. In addition, plants that attract bees and have pollen would not be suitable as visitors may have bee sting or pollen allergies. Figure 4. Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 4: What plant features would you like to see incorporated in this space? Seating Survey participants were asked to rank seating options in order of importance, one being the most important and seven being the least. It was found that 41.8% of participants ranked seating with shade most important, while 28.8% of participants ranked multiple person seating with tables (such as picnic tables) as most important. As shown in Figure 5 below, seating with shade had an average highest ranking of 2.38, in terms of importance. Multiple person seating with tables received an average ranking of 2.74 and multiple person seating without tables obtained an average ranking of Single person seating with tables, single person seating without tables, hammocks and ergonomic seating received an average ranking of 4.42, 4.83, 4.98 and 5.00, respectively.

7 Figure 5. Average ranking of each option when survey participants were asked Question 5: Please rank the order of importance of seating styles. Community Involvement Most participants were interested in volunteering for the MUSC Green Roof Initiative. Figure 6 displays that 75.9% of participants chose at least one volunteer option, while 24.1% of participants were not interested in volunteering. Results show that 45.4% of participants would like to help assemble the green roof, 41.7% of participants are interested in maintaining it and 43.5% of participants would like to help organize a launch event to celebrate the opening. Of the respondents, 2.9 % had other suggestions such as guiding tours that promote sustainability on campus.

8 Figure 6. Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 6: Which volunteer events would you most likely participate in? Non-smoking Area Results indicate that 92% of participants would like the green roof to be a non-smoking area while 4.4 % of participants were would like the green roof to be a smoking friendly area. In addition, 3.9% of participants were unsure. Respondents felt that a smoking environment would not allow the MSU Green Roof to achieve its objectives of promoting health and well being among community members. Figure 7. Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 6: Would you like the MSU Green Roof to be a non-smoking area?

9 Appendix A: Preliminary Survey Results Figure 8. Preliminary Data: Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 1: Please choose the option that best describes you. Figure 9. Preliminary Data: Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 2: What would you most likely use the MSU Green Roof for?

10 Figure 10. Preliminary Data: Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 3: If the MSU Green Roof were to grow fruits vegetables and/or herbs, what would you like the produce to be used for? Figure 11. Preliminary Data: Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 4: What plant features would you like to see incorporated in this space?

11 Figure 12. Preliminary Data: Average ranking of each option when survey participants were asked Question 5: Please rank the order of importance of seating styles. Figure 13. Preliminary Data: Proportion of survey participants that choose each option when answering Question 6: Which volunteer events would you most likely participate in?

12 References Maas, J., van Dillen, S.M.E., Verheij, R.A., Groenewegen, P.P. (2009). Social contacts as a possible mechanism behind the relation between green space and health. Health and Place, 15 (2), Retrieved June 25, 2012, from